There is something not quite right about the city of Méfiance. Something about its crumbling architecture, the deep shadows of its streets, the sullen and haunted look of its inhabitants. Something about the giant wall that surrounds the city, and the nature of the ‘citizens’ that roam the desolate streets.

Every citizen of Méfiance is a captive, brought to the city by some form of force and kept there for the amusement of the city's founder, the man who calls himself the King. Some are innocents, whose only crime was to catch the eye of the King. Some are passersby who made the mistake of getting too curious about the great walled city. Others are convicts, lifers, brought there by the busload once a month through a deal with the government that keeps the jails from overflowing and keeps their noses out of what goes on in the city. Each citizen, before entry, is outfitted with a sub-dermal tracking device -- try to run, and the Thrones will certainly find you.

The Thrones are a group of the King's personal henchmen, they are trained killers, equipped with the deadliest equipment available. They will find you, no matter where you run, no matter where you try to go.

Order is kept to some degree, but more often than not, the King allows for crimes to be committed and for the citizens to exact their own forms of justice. After all, he couldn't let his lovely city become overcrowded, now could he? If he particularly liked a citizen, he would tattoo them with his mark, indicating to all concerned that if this one was his and a terrible fate would be brought upon anyone who hurt them. Well, until he got tired of them -- then he'd brand a cross over their mark, and they were no longer protected.

After a time, the daily crimes were not enough, and the King was bored. And so, he invented a game. The King chooses from the citizens, sometimes at random, other times due to reasons such as their looks or their convictions. The chosen citizens all receive a letter which contains the details of the game.

Those who are chosen for the game are given a simple task. To entertain the King. Many have come to dread when a game draws near, as this ‘entertainment’ often comes in the form of chaos and violence, especially among the contestants themselves. Despite this, other things have been known to win the King’s favour, and thus the eventual prize. Rumour has it that winning the game will earn you your freedom, a clean record, and one million dollars.

No one is quite sure what Méfiance used to be, just that it was an advanced city that was bombed out in the last Great War. No one wanted to go back, so no one put in the money to renovate it. Years went by, as the city remained naught but a dark blot on the horizon, a depressing burnt-out husk off the highway.

Then the King found it, using his portion of his family's riches to renovate the city under the guise of a 'public service'. The outside he made beautiful, so that it would appear he was living up to his word, but the inside he refurbished only just enough that it was inhabitable. Then he put up the wall around it, and began to implement his original intention: to have a place where his 'pets' could not run from him.

The original inhabitants were all victims of kidnapping, brought to the city by the King's henchmen. Before long, however, the government took notice of the kidnappings and swept in to bring justice upon the King. Instead, he struck a deal with them -- if they would leave his city alone, he would gladly take some of the criminals that were overflowing the prisons. The government agreed hesitantly, and Méfiance was left to thrive, in a sense.

The King and his Court -- his henchmen, advisors, servants, and such -- live in a huge, beautiful home at the western edge of the city, which he calls his Castle. Any deliveries into the city, of supplies, convicts, or anything else, are made through the gate nearby the Castle, so that the Thrones can watch it and ensure that nothing untoward happens. Citizens who are lucky -- or unlucky, depending on your point of view -- may gain the King's favour and become servants in the Castle, allowing them to live in relative luxury within its protected halls. They may be subject to the King's whims, but it is better than being in Méfiance.

Within Méfiance, you see, it is much like a prison, only without the cells to separate everyone once night falls. The entire city is a ghetto, the buildings old, worn, and crumbling, the plumbing unreliable, and the neighbours competitive and dangerous. Cyborg 'sentinels' employed by the King roam the streets and casually enforce a basic set of laws, but for the most part, violence is allowed to run rampant.

With a severe lack of money, a basic barter/trade system has been set up, with food, weapons, and recreational drugs being the most common trade goods. What little cash the citizens still have is often used to bribe the guards, either to have them turn a blind eye on rule-breaking or to have certain things smuggled in. Woe to anyone who is caught being involved with gun trading, though -- the King hates guns, and only allows a select few of the Thrones to have them out of necessity.

As a Throne or a member of the King's court, you will begin and spend most of your time in the Castle, except when you are sent to venture into the city. The Thrones live in the south wing of the Castle, you take your meals together unless you are on business for the King himself, because he believes that, in a twisted sense, the Thrones are all one big family. As a contestant, you will begin in your home in the city, having just received the letter stating that you are to participate in the game.

I am your GM. I reserve the right to change/add rules where necessary, but I won’t do so without good reason. I am open to discussion and suggestions on how the game should go, so don’t be afraid to message me or poke me in the OOC.

This game is going to be in the Extreme section, as there is a possibility of character death, non-con, excessive violence, etc. However, none of these should be done to a character without the player’s permission. Please respect each other’s Ons and Offs.

This roleplay is LGBT+ friendly. Discrimination of any sort will not be tolerated here. That means gender, sexuality or race of both characters and players.

Characters are all human, but as this is a slightly futuristic setting I may allow for some slight cybernetic enhancements if it fits the backstory. All genders/races are welcome, and players may play any gender, regardless of their own. If you have an issue with males playing females and vice versa, this isn’t the rp for you.

Feel free to make throwaway characters for the purposes of offing in some spectacular fashion, either by your own characters or someone else’s. There’s plenty of other inhabitants in the city!

You can play characters from anywhere in the city, including the Court, Thrones, Contestants and other Citizens.

There is no set posting requirement for time or quantity, but do try to post enough (in both senses) to keep the game moving. Please try to give a little warning if you won’t be able to post for a while, but if you can’t due to a good reason I will be understanding. Please also tell us if you’re going to drop out of the game.

[b]Role:[/b] (Court, Throne or Contestant? And if Court, what do you do? e.g. chef, body guard, etc.)[b]Appearance:[/b] (Optional as well, mostly for if there is anything you can't see in the picture or is different - Include face claim here if you have one)[b]Personality:[/b][b]Background:[/b][b]Extras:[/b] (Optional)

[b]Played by:[/b] [url=(link to Ons/Offs here!)]Username[/url][b]Killable?:[/b] (Yes, no, open to discussion - Mention here if the character is a throwaway or if their demise is reserved for a specific player character)If you're making up a throwaway character, feel free to simplify the sheet a little/put in less detail.

He is a slender, stooped, morose fellow, one arm partially replaced with simple enough seeming cybernetics after being unpleasantly mangled in some unfortunate accident. He serves the Thrones as a tracker and scapegoat, the one who takes the blame when the blame is easily laid. Oft the target for abuse, he is quickly losing favor in the sight of the King and his court, and many suspect it is only a matter of time before he is given a Letter, despite his placement among the Throne.

The only reason he hasn't is because of his twin sister, a vicious, sadistic creature that is an uncanny tracker and deadly with the razor blades and hooks that make up her biomechanical left hand. She uncannily intelligent and terrifying in her sociopathy; even the Thrones take heed when she voices her whispered, giddy threats.

The problem is that his twin sister lives inside his head, and they share his body.

I was discussing this in my A/As, but I should say so here as well. I am of conflicted mind if I want to make a male, female or genderfluid/ intersexed character. I know I want to make one main one as well as some throw away kill-able ones (my main one will also be killable but I will be grumpy for a whole five minutes if they do get dead) but I am so bad at making choices.

I was discussing this in my A/As, but I should say so here as well. I am of conflicted mind if I want to make a male, female or genderfluid/ intersexed character. I know I want to make one main one as well as some throw away kill-able ones (my main one will also be killable but I will be grumpy for a whole five minutes if they do get dead) but I am so bad at making choices.

You know, for all the character's I've seen of yours, I really haven't seen you play an actual intersexed character, though genderbent in a variety of ways I've seen many of. I know you've played with several of mine...

Role: Throne Appearance: Face claim Rooney Mara. Clothing style, skintight black and white, silver chains and spikes and leather straps, high heels ([1][2][3][4][5]) with a cyborg modification to his eye and heavy tattooingPersonality: Aggressively playful and mischievous, delights in being an annoyance and only really respects the King. Background: Nostrum's duality made him valuable, in as much as a rare beast is. It is unknown whether his parents sold him or if he was specially imported in a black market exchange. In any event, he was raised as a slave, allowed little if any freedom or privacy until his second decade, which was when Nostrum was offered to the king as a curiosity, a pet, a disposable thing to be used, abused and ultimately destroyed. The king rejected him, and put the one who offered him up to death to discourage others from treating his tithe as a means to get rid of anyone they deemed 'defective' - a word the lord had used in private correspondence that had, somehow, found its way to the king's hand.

The king offered Nostrum a chance he'd not had his whole life, elevating him out of the position he had been raised in, as a curiosity and freak, to be something - someone. A Throne. Nostrum took to it, the power rushing to his head, and from the meek, mostly silent shadow burst a malevolent force of chaos and joy.

It was only natural he fall in love with the man who granted him such power and freedoms, but in that love came its own chains. Amused by the rather public infatuation Nostrum held for him, the king put Nostrum's desire to the test, demanding him do impossible tasks with the promise he would take the Thorne to he bed should he preform well. Nostrum has yet to satisfy any of Rai's demands, and in fact failed so spectacularly at one that Rai forced him to don a chastity belt which he has been wearing ever since. It is a form of punishment, and Nostrum loathes it intensely, but ever obedient to Rai's whims.

Played by:Dim HonKillable?: Yes - not a throw away but not deeply attached

Role: KingAppearance: Usually wears expensive and stylish clothing, and is well known for his tendency to spend upwards of an hour on his appearance some mornings. Very few know that his body is covered in scars, the worst of which being a gunshot wound on his chest that barely missed his heart/lungs. Because of this, he usually wears covering garments, and uses makeup to cover the rest.Face Claim: Boyd Holbrook - Bonus picPersonality: The King is unstable, prone to sudden and unpredictable shifts of mood, a fact that makes his friends and his foes alike nervous. He is a man used to getting what he wants, when he wants it, even when those things are unreasonable. Being in charge of the city, with the government no longer even much of a threat, his behaviour has steadily spiraled out of control, and it is clear that he sees most of the city's inhabitants as toys, not people.He is incredibly vain, taking great pains to keep his appearance exactly how he wants it, and he has an over inflated sense of pride and ego to go with it. Insults are often met with overreaction, only rarely does he consider someone to be worth keeping around should they find the wrong side of his temper, and even then they do not escape some sort of punishment. He is also quite secretive, keeping his past to himself, and even though he is known for certain lecherous tendencies, he rarely brings anyone to his room.Although his vanity and mood swings might suggest otherwise, Rai is intelligent and charismatic when he wants to be, making him skilled at manipulating to get what he wants. Background: Rai was raised in a distant but wealthy family. He rarely wanted for anything, at least anything material, but his emotional needs were far from met. His mother believed that all she needed to do was give him whatever he wanted, but never really listened to him, especially about his father. So Rai learned quickly that the only thing he could do was try to avoid his father as much as possible. The abuse was impossible to avoid, however, and was the cause of most of the scars on the man’s body.As he grew, he found a sense of control in terrorising the house’s servants. They rarely lasted long, even with the amount they were being paid, but he didn’t care so long as he had someone to take it out on. When his mother started getting sick, his father decided to add insult to injury, informing him that he would be left out of his will and left nothing. The resulting argument led to a fight, which led to his father pulling out a gun and shooting him in the chest. The excitement proved too much for him, however, and a heart attack led them to both be admitted into hospital.Rai was the only one who walked back out, managing to use his charm to convince his mother to put him back in the will. He took charge of the business, smart enough to run it just as efficiently and ruthlessly as his father. He was only 22 when his mother passed as well, leaving him the sole heir to the business. His tactics became even more vicious, taking over businesses and expanding his empire, with no care for the people he might have hurt in doing so. It wasn’t long before he realized he couldn’t get away with everything he wanted to, and even with as much money as he had, it was difficult to keep people around him for long. So he started planning, eventually ‘renovating’ the city and hiring a number of people to help keep it under control. People couldn’t run from him, then. Of course, it was only a matter of time before he was found, but he used his wits and charm to convince the government to leave him alone, in return for taking in convicts from all over the country, the kind who were causing too much trouble, costing too much money.He still has his hands in his family business, but by and large has outsourced the majority of the work, the ‘maintaining’ of his city taking up most of his time.

Played by:SparrowhawkeKillable?: I am willing to open up the possibility of Rai dying, but as it would be a major plot point, it would need to be discussed with the rest of the players as well.

Role: ThroneAppearance: Caim has had dental surgery to give it a set of fangs, along with a surgery to give it cybernetic eyes. It also has a number of facial piercings (Nostril, bridge, snake bites & a number of helix piercings on both ears). It bears quite a large number of scars, all of which it displays quite proudly as 'trophies' from the fights it's been in.Personality: Caim has a personality that fits both its position as a Throne and the convictions that sent it here in the first place. Some would argue that it is more animal than man, but even most predators don't tend to be as ruthless and stubborn. It is utterly fearless when he enters the city, and anyone who has been there long knows to fear its coming. It 'hunts' among the city with a fair amount of regularly, picking off those who interest it, much to the joy of the king. It kills completely without empathy, simply because it enjoys doing so.In general, its social skills are lacking, and communication often tends to consist of grunts, growls and swearing, only becoming a little more eloquent with the King because it knows it won't get away with anything else. Background: Caim was always one to get in trouble, in juvvie for fighting (and badly injuring those it fought with) at school. At 18 it went to proper jail for similar reasons, but when it was released it seemed it had changed for the better. It managed to get a job and hold it steadily, and even its violent urges seemed to have settled.What they didn't know, at least until it made a mistake, was that it had become an extremely successful and prolific serial killer. It racked up a considerable body count before it finally made a mistake that led to its capture, some of which are still considered cold cases, as it was quite tight lipped upon its capture. It was thrown back into jail, maximum security this time, and eventually was shipped off to Méfiance. It took stock of the environment quickly, and took to the unsupervised violence like a duck to water. It caught the attention of the King, and eventually gained a position as one of the Thrones. Extras: It also has cybernetic implants to strengthen its jaw, giving him the ability to crush bone with his teeth, along with implants in its eyes and ears, enhancing its senses.

Name: Uriel / ArielNickname: The 'Goat (as in scapegoat). Ariel is either called by name or called 'that spooky bitch' - but never to her face.The King's Angels.Age: 22Gender/Sex: Male / Female, physically male.Orientation: Asexual Aromantic / Bisexual Sadistic Dominant Greyromantic.

Role: Throne / ThroneAppearance: Nearly gaunt, stooped and slender, with dark, oily hair and a morose expression, and green eyes that glitter with unvoiced emotion. Uriel's left arm is bio-mechanical, but not particularly unusual as far as he is concerned. When Ariel is in control, she stands tall, has a spiteful smirk, and the biomechanical left arm sprouts a wicked set of talons and vicious hooks.Personality: Uriel is unhappy, but does his job reasonably well. He is largely submissive, not being as fast and as strong as many of the other Thrones, but he is a good tracker. He is often the butt of jokes or sexual humor (and sometimes, sexual abuse), and he is often blamed for any failures among the Thrones that they can get away with pinning on him. It is rumored he will be or maybe even HAS received one of the King's Letters, but no one has proved it. Ariel, on the other hand, is a giddy, delirious, murderous psychopath who is an even better hunter than her brother could ever be. She uses their body to extremes and doesn't seem to particularly care how badly she hurts herself doing so. No one an argue that she's a valuable asset to the Thrones, but at the same time her possession of the body is unnerving and disturbing.Background: It is said that there once was an actual person that was Ariel, but something happened between herself and her brother. It is unknown if she is simply a splintered personality Uriel manifested to escape his abuse, or if she is in fact a real person stuck inside his mind and body. The most current rumor is that the King, in his mercy had a fake personality implanted in a cybernetic chip-set inside Uriel's head, and that the 'ghost' or 'second personality' is in fact an AI trapped in "her brother's" body. Uriel is the son of some court functionary, but was given to the King as a 'gift' for some reason or another. Uriel doesn't talk about his past and will endure incredible amounts of abuse before speaking of it. Ariel seems to have less issues discussing it, but her dismissive attitude downplays the fact that she doesn't appreciate nosiness - and when she becomes irritable, she becomes dangerous. The cybernetic replacement for their arm was the result of Ariel actually managing to catch the Phantom of Méfiance, the spectral haunt known as Darknyss on her own and alone during a hunt with other Thrones. When the other Thrones found Uriel - or Ariel - their flesh and blood left arm had been literally dismantled from fingers to shoulder, with the flesh torn apart, the bones splintered, and the remnants scattered about their head like a halo. A makeshift bandage kept them from bleeding out, and Ariel has become obsessed with finding the porcelain-faced Ghost of Méfiance again. Uriel only shudders in horror when people bring it up.Extras: Ariel is in fact a real person; she was dying at a young age, a wasting disease. The nobleman offered his son to the King if he could save his daughter. the King agreed...and saved the daughter by putting her personality on a hard coded e-brain unit inside the son's head. The nobleman could do nothing but accept that the King had done as he'd asked, and committed suicide, leaving his holdings to his wife - as the King had intended all along.

Played by:MnemaxaKillable?: Yes; Uriel is made for sexual abuse. Ariel is a predator; be aware that abusing Uriel in certain ways can bring out his sister, and the tables could very well turn...

Name: The only name she is known by is Darknyss.Nickname: The Ghost of Méfiance, The Haunt, King's Bane, The Spectre of the City.Age: Unknown, but seemingly in her 20's.Gender/Sex: Female and Female.Orientation: Homosexual, Obsessively Homoromantic

Role: "Contestant?"Appearance: Darknyss is unnaturally pale, but the most that can be seen of her is her face, and red-painted lips. Her blue-green eye are bright and intelligent. The Spectre of the City invariably wears a tight black bodysuit of supple material that seems like thick leather. No one has even seen her unclothed though when her suit has been torn her skin is still pale and her blood seems to be normal and red. Personality: Darknyss appears to be insane. The spectral apparition avoids most adults, save for those equally insane or the injured. She speaks only in rhyming couplets, she is often seen dancing though the city, unless the Thrones are out in force in which case she prances, skips, and leaps from place to place. She adores children of all kinds, invariably offering them hard candies and sweetmeats as long as no adults are nearby. Any time a child is abused, chances are good she will learn of it, and the abuser will soon be found mutilated beyond recognition. On occasion she has formed nearly obsessive attachments to young women who are contestants or denizens of the city, especially those in pain or turmoil; she will woo them with flowers gathered from who-knows-where, moonlight dances in the broken down courtyards of Méfiance, softly spoken poetry...and they will find themselves under the viciously deadly aegis of her protection. Previous Thrones have tried to use this to their advantage but the cunning Ghost of Méfiance has always turned it around - even if she has to sacrifice her adored one to do so.Background: No one knows how Darknyss came to be a denizen of the hateful prison city of Méfiance; they only know she wanders the city in a endless dance of a dreaming haze, poetry and sing-song verses, leading the few children in mindless games and tormenting the cybernetic guardians of the streets. She seems to be a creature of flesh and blood, for she has been wounded many times by the Thrones who hunt her ceaselessly. The reason for their hunt is quite simple; whenever the King is brought up in her presence or she is asked why she is in the city the reply is always the same:

~Sweet King of empty shells, cold and bloody, bitter and lonely, in the palace where he dwells~~Come to me, in this city never to be, and we shall dance a final time, before you go off to Hell~

No one knows what she means or how she knows the King; she must be a contestant, or a denizen of the city but none know when or even how she arrived. The more superstitious believe she is a true ghost, an accursed soul waiting to take her vengeance upon the King. The more pragmatic believe she is an experiment, escaped (or more likely, let loose) upon the city. The fact that she has survived the Thrones for so long seem to lend credence to their claims, but there is also the fact that despite the cameras and observation devices throughout the city, somehow Darknyss seems to escape the King's watchdogs and war-hounds, or even appears to be in several places at once. That she has survived what must have been mortal wounds on several occasions further hints at her unnatural nature - as does the condition of the bodies she leaves in the wake of her anger and vengeance.

If there is anything that can be said to be certain abut the mysterious phantom that calls herself Darknyss, it is that one day there will be a reckoning...and Méfiance will never be the same again.Extras:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

It is one thing to aggressively take over other companies. It is another thing entirely to imprison their best and brightest in a hell-scape that they cannot escape from for not being willing to work for the new CEO. Combine a disgruntled, cruelly treated scientific genius and the so called 'test run' of experimental cybernetic warrior-organism that the company created to replace the bulky, dull cyborg warriors of the current age, and you have a recipe for disaster of epic proportions. When Dr. Emmanuelle VonStahtzen was confronted with the hunter-killer prototype she herself had been the lead designer of, she was able to bypass the altered safeguard protocols and retrain and reprogram the Death Doll into something else. Knowing that it was unlikely that the newly reborn cyborg assassin would ever make it out of the city, she crafted it into a legend; and that legend now haunts the King's personal ant-farm, disrupting his games and threatening his life in song and rhyme. Rai Vernieu knows Doctor VonStahtzen is out there somewhere, and she's interfering with his fun. Whether or not he has chosen to inform his Thrones...well, the King always has his reasons and plans.

Played by:MnemaxaKillable?: Open to discussion only. It must be an epic sort of death.

Ok, changed that rule from 'You can play characters from the Court and the Thrones as well as contestants.' to 'You can play characters from anywhere in the city, including the Court, Thrones, Contestants and other Citizens.' as neither Morgan nor Darknys really fit in any of the other groups xD

Mnem, I changed Darknyss' Role from Contestant to Citizen, but I can change it again if you'd prefer something else.